California backs financial justice for pro cheerleaders

Groundbreaking legislation in California will for the first time ensure that cheerleaders are not cheated out of pay – and not just for game time, but also for countless hours spent on rehearsals and appearances. The new law came after numerous lawsuits.

Many in the industry point to a loophole that allows employers to
only pay cheerleaders for the final product of their labor,
seeing as they’re not officially part of the team. The bill that
passed the California State Senate on Monday with a bipartisan
26-8 vote will ensure that does not happen again. It is currently
awaiting signature by Governor Jerry Brown.

There are a whole host of appearances and engagements
cheerleaders have to be involved in outside of game time,
including rehearsals, promotional materials and others, according
to the bill’s proponents. Moreover, cheerleaders are often forced
to spend thousands of dollars on related costs – including
travel, personal appearances and unpaid overtime, which will all
fall under the new bill and which have been frequent subjects of
lawsuits.

The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales (D-San Diego)
said: "Everyone who works hard to provide
a great game-day experience deserves the same basic level of
dignity and respect on the job, starting with simply being paid
for their work.”

Her bill seeks to bring the state “one step closer to
respecting these workers by ensuring that the same basic
workplace standards apply to everyone, whether you are the beer
guy or a pro cheerleader.”

California is following in New York’s steps with the passing of
the legislation. The catalyst was a spate of NFL lawsuits
detailing unpaid wages for numerous hours spent toiling outside
of game time.

The problem, however, is that the new bill may not affect the
existing law at all, according to some. This is because existing
legislation already sees cheerleaders as minimum-wage workers.

RT spoke to Valerie Town, a former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader
while she was in college, from 2003 to 2007. She says she used to
earn $75 per game, as well as tickets. Some appearances were
paid, but not all. Practices went unpaid, and they took place
twice a week, lasting up to two hours each.

Town, however, admits that, despite her never having planned to
make cheerleading her life’s ultimate ambition, it did
“[open] a lot of doors” for her. She adds that she
“never felt exploited by the team. I wouldn’t have stuck with
it, even if I was paid more.”

She said that cheerleading was “a great way to put myself
through college. And it was an awesome, awesome opportunity to do
that.

“We got good [medical] care through the team” and
“the Ravens made sure girls were safe and okay. If anything
happened, they were there.”

However, it’s difficult to say if Town’s story is the rule, or
the exception.

The Oakland Raiders pay their cheerleaders $125 per game, which
amounts to $1,250 per season. But with the rest of the hours
factored in, that figure comes down to below $5 per hour –
significantly less than minimum wage – according to the team
cheerleaders’ attorney Sharon Vinick, who spoke to the Associated
Press.

Vinick also brushed off arguments that the cheerleaders benefit
from public appearances outside of games as somehow beneficial
and providing exposure for potentially entering other fields,
such as modeling. At the very least, she says, because they
shouldn’t have to.

"If you are a young starting quarterback, you get lot of
notoriety for that, but you also get paid for that work,"
she says. "The fact that the women might get some
opportunities doesn't justify not paying them."

The problem is, according to lawyers, that girls are being told
it’s a privilege to do what they love and to be exposed like
that.

Numerous other lawsuits, however, prove that experiences can get
much worse than even the Raiders example; one lawsuit by six
cheerleaders with the Buffalo Bills alleged they weren’t paid
even for game days – let alone uniforms and makeup.

The AP asked the NFL for comment on the new bill, which went
unanswered.

If the cheerleaders were employed by the league, their rights
would have been secured by the fact that the league has to follow
state and federal laws. But the NFL classes cheerleaders as
independent contractors, placing them at a legal disadvantage.
Experts say that the situation is similar to being an independent
contractor only on paper.